Indigenous servicemen to be remembered

Under the Coloured Diggers project, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander veterans will be able to record their name and tribal nation group at a service at St Saviours Church on Friday.

The names will be transferred later to an honour board headed The Best We Forgot, designed with the help of Sydney Aboriginal artist Adam Hill.

The project is an initiative of Redfern's Crossroads Aboriginal Ministry and the Babana Aboriginal Men's Group.

"We know that there's just a huge number of Aboriginal people who fought overseas, (and) we want to make sure that we identify the tribal nation group that our people fought for," organiser Ray Minniecon said.

Mr Minniecon said it was hoped that other indigenous diggers across Australia would eventually get a chance to add their names to the board.

Organisers expect more than 700 people will take part in the third indigenous Anzac Day march, starting from The Block at 1pm.

David Williams, who will march on Friday and add his name to the honour roll, served on HMAS Vampire in the Vietnam War and served in the navy for 29 years.

"(It) is important for the civilian populace of Australia to recognise the commitment that Aboriginal people gave to this country," he said.

Redfern's celebrations will include a ceremony at St Saviours Church, the signing of a map of the Aboriginal tribal nations, and an exhibition of artwork exploring the contribution of Aboriginal service people.

A public monument to indigenous diggers also would be unveiled this week at Customs House in Circular Quay, Mr Minniecon said.

The Coloured Diggers project service is not officially endorsed by the RSL.

Redfern RSL Honorary Sub Branch Secretary Mr Aub Silcock declined to comment directly on the initiative. "In this country I think the RSL is the major ex-service organisation," he said.

However, Mr Minniecon said there had been no protests from the RSL and it was "getting behind (the event) now and seeing the incredible community response".

There is no current record of how many indigenous Australians have served in the armed forces.

The number was difficult to determine because not all of them identified themselves as indigenous at the time, a spokeswoman for the Australian War Memorial said.